I remember being an incredibly frustrated youth pastor back in the early 1990’s and complaining to another youth pastor who was MUCH older and wiser than me. I told him, “Nothing, I mean NOTHING is happening in the youth ministry I am leading.” He very calmly looked at me and asked, “What are you praying that you might see happen?”
BAM…busted, seriously, it felt like someone had given me a swift kick to the mid-section. It hurt…DEEP…because I had been so busy leading and preparing that I had forgotten a pretty important issue—God’s hand!
God taught me a lesson that day…and since then I have been desperate for God…desperate for HIS leadership in my life. The Bible says in James 1:5 that if we lack wisdom that we can ask God and He will give it. Well…if there’s anyone on the planet that lacks wisdom—it’s me!!! I tell people all of the time that NewSpring is NOT the result of my brilliance…TRUST ME…NewSpring is what happens when people get desperate for God, seek Him daily and who have one goal…TO MAKE HIM FAMOUS!
Sure, I offer prayers of thanksgiving…confession…repentance…but to be honest, most of my prayers are out of desperation!
I am desperate for God to continue to give me guidance in my marriage. With marriages falling apart all over the U.S. I have came to realize that I need His guidance. I desperately want to be a godly husband, but I need His wisdom to show me how. Are you praying for your marriage? (Or your future marriage?)
I am desperate for God to show me how to be a father to a little girl. Like I have said…I am so messed up already. A staff member who recently gave birth to a little girl recently came by the office and I got to see her…I had to walk away because God hit me with this thought, “That’s coming your way!” I AM DESPERATE…I want to be a godly dad…but I need HIS wisdom!
I am desperate for God to provide me with wisdom in regards to leading NewSpring. One of the things I have discovered about leadership is that it isn’t that hard at its core—all a leader has to do is listen to God and then do what He says…it’s just that listening seems so hard at times when I seem to have it all figured out!!!
I am desperate to see people come to Christ. I am obsessed with it!!! As many of you know, we wrote names on the walls of our church of people who do not know Jesus…and every time I get up to preach I am reminded that one of those people are probably attending that day…and I am desperate to see God draw them towards Him!
What are you praying for? What are you desperate to see God do? Prayer is NOT a formula…it’s not a coin in a vending machine…it is a chance to connect with the Creator of the Universe…and I DO NOT do this out of obligation, I do it out of desperation. I spent 18 years of my life seeing what Perry can do…and I was not impressed. I want to spend the rest of my life seeing what God can do—I’m desperate!